Feeding apparatus for can-body blanks.



E. W. GONRADI.

' FEEDING APPARATUS FOR CAN BODY BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28Q191Z.

Patented Feb.,23-, 1915.

0 WITNESSES: /4-" I /7 IN l/E/V TOR [dwaraM 62/7/00! BY /9 ATTORNEY maniacs.

eunuch: a

n nwnnnmconmni, or saiwtnwisemem, assienoaor onnrmnr cnnsnnx M. IBOGLE, or SEATTLE, A I P 'QN; I i

Toall whom it-mayooncern:

lBe itv known. that. I, EDWARD W. GONRADI, a citizen of the. United. States,. residing at Seattle, in the county of King-and. State of Washington, have invented certain.- new; and

. useful Improvements in Feeding Apparatus The object: of my improvements is the. pro-- vision of simple and eflicient means whereby the lowermost of a column of blanks may be singly and successively fed to the blankcarrier.

lhe invention consists in the novel con: struction, combination and adaptation of parts, as will be fully described inthe following specification;illustrated in the ac companying drawings, and finally set forth in the appended claims. I

In the drawings, F gure 1 is a plan new of a portion of a; can body forming machine having an embodiment of my invention Fig. 2 is a View shown .applied thereto.

' partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section along the line 2-2o'f Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of" Fig. 1 partly broken away. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view ofFig. 3 illustrating the operative parts in different positions. Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of details of the invention. v In said drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates theside rails and 2 the center rail ofthe'i'supporting-bed of a can-bodyform mg. maichine, Said sidesrails are provided with uprightlflanges 3 between which the blanks are. guided to the forming -apparatus .ofthemachine. Said sidewalls are likewise provided with lotigitudinalqiiara1.lel-

fiooves 4. in which the reeiprocatinig feed heads, as 5 and are provided re 5 are slidably. mounted. .Saaid feedears. are .i'igidly-connectedtogether by crosshs 6 which are pivotedat their rear and an" spring-pressed upwardly at their for ward and above the tops lofthe feed-bars in position toi engage the near edgesof the pecificationof Letters Patent,

Pa am te a w s.

Application filed October 28 m seriaino. 728,181.

blanksto move the latter forwai'dly in the forward movement of the feed-bars.- A.

' plate 7 see Fig.6, is secured: at the rear extremityof each feed-bar and-is formed with a, forwardly directed finger 8extending. into the space between. said feed-bars.

In. proximity ofthe rear end-of the forming'machine isa. frame for receiving. a p'i'le. B ofcan-body blanks consisting. of the side walls. 9, and front-and rear walls 10, and; 11 respectively. Said; pile of blanks rest in horizontal condition upon brackets 12, see Fig 5, respectively secured to the side rails 1. Said; brackets extend inwardly toward each other and towardithe longitudinal axis of the machine-bed and terminate. .inan up? w rdly d reeted ledge 13 positioned at some distance, inwardly from the side walls 9: of the rame. i J T efreference numeral 14: indicates areeiprocatively mounted member formedwith an axial bore open at itsupper' end and. provided with a suitable rubber suction dias phragm 16. A flexible hose 17 connectssaid bore 15 by a branch opening 18! With an air suction pump 19. A power-driven shaft 20 may be arranged to actuate said feed-bars through a disk-crank 21 operas tively connected to the cross-head 5 by Wu: netting rod 22. At each revolution of said through the contact of a pin 23 projecting from said-dlsk with an integral lug 24. upon said member, the reverse descending stroke.

crank disk said member 14; is. elevated.

2.0 and is arranged to have itssnction stroke' whereby the an is partially exhausted in its.y1inder nd he'bo're 15 oc r j be;

fore the member 14 reaches the culmination] of its upstroke and during the major portion of itsldownward stroke. A The p leof'metal b... y-b1ank s;B normally r s po t le ge 1.3 -a r y new? at tel condition due to the weight thereof ta g.

di rib t d pan t e aunrert a edsee-in the e'anita ir "principle inamauch as wei of. metal extending laterally. gbeyoiinf" as ledge 13 is approximately nearly equal to that bridging the1spac between.

ledges. The member 14: isv arranged arms in its upward stroke beyond the penetrate upp port ens at a d edg 3 anthems t eng ge-t imd s Q the blank, as B, and push the entire pile B upwardly'and bowing the same slightly, as indicated in Fig. Then in the downwardlowermost blank B} and pulls the same downwardlyin the middle, as illustrated in Fig; 4:. p The feed-bars are meanwhile actuated in their forward stroke and as the middie of the blank B is drawn down the fingers 8 of theplate 7. engage over the blank and push it forwardly from under thepile B. The forward. travel of the feed-bars carry the blank to a position, indicated by B in Fig. 2, wherein it is engaged by a fiatsp'ring 26 connected at one end to wall 10 of the frame and held .by frictional contact while the feed-carriage is retracted into position to extract in like manner another blank from the bottom of the pile. On said next forward stroke the feed-dog is in position to engage the blank in position B and advance it into position indicated' at B where it is yieldingly held in an analogous manner. as before I ,The particular merit and advantages of my invention reside in the provision of means to prevent the feeding of morethan one sheet metal blank at a time. This is accomplished through the agency of the a ledges 13 arranged substantially in the mannet and position shown and in the combina- "tion therewith of the member 14 havln 1ts upward stroke extending beyond the p ane of said ledges. In feeding devices of this general character trouble is usually experiencedlin feeding more than one blank'at a tilne'to the feed-bars due usually to suction between the adjoinin blanks as the lowermost is pulled down hy the suction devices. The blanks are usually supported close to their ends and intermediate thereof are bowed downwardly to a considerable extent. When thesuction device engages the lower blankf-and is caused to pull downwardly thereupon several contiguous blanks may be influenced to be; brought within the path of the feed-finger 8 and thus fed to the ma chine and interrupting the proper progress of the work.

In my invention I provide supports in ledges 13 spaced from the ends of the pile of blanks to distribute the weight thereof so that the blanks will lie in substantially horizontal planes. Inext provide a suction member 14 whose upward travel extends upwardly beyond the plane of said ledges and hence bending the entire pile of blanks in the middle bowing them up'wardly,-as shown 7 in Fig. 3. When'the. downward stroke of the member begins with' the pile of blanks in this upwardly bowed relation, the suction device 16 will adhere to and influence the lowermost blank downwardly into the position shown in" Fig; 4 but will not draw down the'adj oining blank,

'Ihedvice is simple in the extreme and has proven a valuable and economical exblanks and draw the middle portion thereof downwardly'below the supports. I

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination. with a frame for holding a pile of blanks, a pair of supporting brackets in said frame respectively spaced from the side walls of the frame, of a reciprocative suction device adapted to engage the lowermost of said blanks having the upward stroke of 1ts travel extend upwardly beyond the horizontal plane of the lowermost blank.

3. In a machine of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of blanks, and a palr of stationary brackets adapted to support said blanks in horizontal condition by suspending the same therefrom, each bracket being spaced inwardly a distance fromithe opposite side edges of the pile, the distance between said brackets approximating the combined lengths of the two ends of the pile of blanks projecting beyond each of said brackets and a reciprocative suction device arranged to engage the plane of said bracket lowermost of said blanks and draw the midblanks, each bracket engaging the pile of blanks at a point spaced inwardly some distance from the opposite side edges of the pile, said suction device arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks and draw the middle portion thereof downwarly below the plane of said bracket supports.

5. In" feeding mechanism for can-body forming machines, the combination of horizontally reciprocating feed -.bars, a vertically reciprocating suction device, and a pair'of brackets upon the opposite sides of said feed-bars adapted to support a pile of blanks, each bracket being spaced inwardly at some distance from the opposite side edges of the pile of blanks whereby the distance between said brackets approximates the combined lengths of the two ends of the pile of blanks projecting beyond each of said brackets.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of blanks, a pair of spaced brackets adapted to support said pile of blanks in horizontal condition, said brackets being respectively spaced inwardly from the side edges of the pile of" blanks, and a reciprocative suction device arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks and draw the middle portion thereof downwardly below the plane of said bracket supports.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of blanks, a pair of brackets adapted to support saidblanks in horizontal condition by suspending the same from points spaced inwardly from their opposite ends, and a reciprocative suction device arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks in its upward stroke which terminates above the plane of said bracket supports whereby the middle portion of said pile of blanks is bowed upwardly.

8. In feeding mechanism for can-body forming machines, the combination of hori zontally reciprocating feed-bars, a vertically reciprocating suction device, and a pair of brackets upon the opposite sides of said feed-bars adapted to support a pile of blanks, each bracket being spaced inwardly 'atsome distance from the side edges of the blanks whereby the weights of the ends provject-ing beyond said brackets approximate 35 the weight of the pile between said brackets.

9. In apparatus of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of body blanks, a pair of spaced brackets arranged within said frame for solely supporting the pile of blanks intermediate the side edges thereof and a reciprocative suction device arranged to engage the lowermost of said I blanks and draw the middle portion thereof downwardly below the plane of said bracket supports.

10. In apparatus of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of body blanks, a pair of brackets arranged within said frame adjacent the opposite sides thereof, said brackets provided with inwardly and upwardly extending arms constituting supports to solely engage the pile of blanks intermediate the side edges thereof and a reciprocative suction device arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks and draw the middle portion thereof downwardly below the plane of said bracket supports.

11. In a machine of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of body blanks, means withinsaid frame for supporting the blanks at points spaced inwardly of the periphery of the blanks, and means arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks to draw the middle portion thereof downwardly below theplane of said blank supporting means.

12. In a machine of the class described, a frame for holding a pile of body blanks, means within said frame for supporting the blanks at points spaced inwardly from their opposite-side edges whereby the distance between the blank supporting means approximates the combined lengths of the two ends of the pile of blanks projecting beyond the blank supporting means, and means arranged to engage the lowermost of said blanks to draw the middle portion thereof downwardly below the plane of said blank supporting means.

13. In sheet metal working machines, the combination of a hopper having an open bottom, a vertically movable suction cup adapted to move against and bend downwardly a portion of a sheet of metal contained in the bottom of the hopper, and. a reciprocatory feed-bar adapted to engage said downwardly bent portion of said sheet while said sheet is in the hopper and feed the same out of said hopper.

Signed at (lraig, Alaska, this 30th day of Sept. 1912.

EDWARD W. CONRADI.

Witnesses:

FRED B. SMITH, En NORDLUNEL. 

